File Management

WyzBooks automatically saves your data to internal application storage. You can also save to and open from external files for backup, sharing, or working with multiple data sets.

All data (accounts, contacts, invoices, payments, journals, bank transactions, items, terms, bills) is stored automatically at ~/Library/Application Support/WyzBooks/data/wyzbooks-data.json. You don't need to manually save for your work to persist between sessions. Data is stored as an append-only event log with a derived projection — every change is recorded as an event, giving you a complete audit trail of modifications.

File Operations

Open (⌘O) — Open a previously saved .wyzbooks, .ledger, .wyzaerd, or .json file. Loads the data and sets the window title to the filename. You can also double-click a .wyzbooks file in Finder to open it.
Save (⌘S) — Save to the current file. If no file is open, opens a Save As dialog.
Save As (⇧⌘S) — Save to a new .wyzbooks file and switch to it as the active file. The window title, sidebar indicator, and future saves will use the new file. Default filename uses your business name and today's date.
Export — Save a copy of your data to a .wyzbooks file without changing the active file. Use this for backups and archiving. The app continues working with internal storage (or the previously opened file). Available from the File menu.
Export Settings — Exports your settings (theme, business details, logo, preferences) to a JSON file. Available from the File menu or Settings → Export/Import tab.
Import Settings — Loads settings from a previously exported file. Available from the File menu or Settings → Export/Import tab.
Close File (⌘W) — Closes the current file (clears the filename). Does not delete data — it remains in internal storage.

Reset

To erase all data and return to the default 19-account chart of accounts, go to Settings → Reset tab. You can independently reset data (accounts, contacts, invoices, payments, journals, items) and/or settings (preferences, business info, sidebar order). Requires confirmation before proceeding.

File Formats

.wyzbooks — The primary file format. A JSON file with the .wyzbooks extension.
.ledger / .wyzaerd — Legacy file extensions accepted for backward compatibility. Same format as .wyzbooks.
.json — Alternate extension. Same format, different extension.

Window Title

The window title shows the current filename (or "Untitled" if no file is open) followed by "— WyzBooks". When multi-user shared mode is active, "(Shared)" appears after the filename. On macOS, Cmd+click the title to reveal the file path in Finder.

Auto-Reopen

When you quit the app with a file open, it will automatically reopen that file on the next launch. If multi-user mode is enabled, shared file monitoring resumes immediately. If the file has been moved or deleted, the app starts fresh without error.

Click the filename in the sidebar footer to open a file status popup. The popup shows:

File name and full path
File size and last modified date
Multi-User mode: Enabled or Disabled
Shared Mode: Active or Inactive
Lock status: Locked or None
Synced status: Yes (green) or No (red)
When shared mode is active: file version, last saved by hostname, and checksum

Close the popup by clicking outside it, pressing Escape, or clicking the × button.

Backup & Restore

WyzBooks automatically backs up your data file daily. Backups are stored at ~/Library/Application Support/WyzBooks/data/backups/ with date-stamped filenames. The last 30 days of backups are retained (configurable via the [backup] section in wyzbooks.ini).

Managing backups — Go to Settings → Advanced → Backup & Restore to see your available backups, create a manual backup (Backup Now), or restore from a previous backup. See Cloud Sync & Multi-User for full details on backup layers and disaster recovery.
Five backup layers — Your data is protected by five independent mechanisms: (1) per-write .bak safety copy, (2) daily auto-backup with 30-day retention, (3) server-side backups (when using cloud sync), (4) manual Save As / Export, and (5) macOS Time Machine (the data directory is backed up by default). Any single layer is sufficient for full recovery.
Startup validation — On every launch, WyzBooks verifies data integrity by checking that the stored projection matches the event log. If they diverge, the projection is automatically rebuilt. If the file is corrupted, the app falls back to the .bak safety copy.

Multi-User Shared Files

When Multi-User Mode is enabled in Settings → Advanced and a .wyzbooks file is open, the app enters shared mode with file locking, live sync, and event-log merge. Multiple computers can safely edit the same file on a NAS or network drive. See Cloud Sync & Multi-User for full details on shared file behavior and Cloud Sync.